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SNAP: Spring Flowers

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The days seem to be flying by! How can it be Wednesday already? I went off in search of some spring flowers yesterday. It’s been rainy and cool for days on end it seems, and we finally had a sunny afternoon. The annual Lilac Festival begins on Friday at Highland Park. The festival draws thousands of visitors, many from out of town. If they’ve booked for the first of the two weeks, I’m afraid they’ll be disappointed. There were hardly any buds on the lilacs yet, and nothing in full bloom. There isn’t any moderation in temperature in the forecast either, which would certainly help. 

But all is not lost, the magnolias are blooming as are the spring bulbs, and we found one azalea blooming already.

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I’m linking up with Helena’s meme, SNAP, featuring three or four photos that create a set. Hoping next week to be back with lilacs from the festival!

SNAP: China Lights

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The New Orleans Botanical Gardens has a special exhibit on called “China Lights.” It was recommended by a friend of my SIL’s who lives in New Orleans. It would have been much more beautiful at night, but the only chance we had to see it was Sunday morning. Although I like the photos in the SNAP collage, overall the exhibit seemed a bit overdone. Tracy commented that without the China Lights display, the gardens themselves would be a bit disappointing, at least at this time of year. I supposed we’re spoiled since the Chicago Botanic Gardens and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with which we’re familiar are so spectacular. (Rochester has a few small gardens and many lovely parks, but no botanical garden.) Nonetheless, we had a very pleasant hour or so walking around, taking photos, and ended up at a great Po’boy restaurant for lunch we would have missed had we not been in that part of town.

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Linking this set up with Helena, and off to see what other sets folks have found this week. Before I go, I thought I’d share another photo of the dragon to help put his size in perspective.

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SNAP: Colorful

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We took Caleb to the Skokie Exploratorium while we were in Chicago. I’m always looking for an interesting shot that’s a bit different and colorful, and took the first shot (top left) in the Week 15 collage there. Afterwards when I was editing the photos from the trip, I remembered taking a photo at the Strong Museum when we took Caleb and Skylar (photo bottom right). After looking through Lightroom, I came up with two more photos to make a SNAP collection for this week. The magnetic “blocks” were taken in Chicago a year or so ago, and the wooden blocks in our living room one night when Skylar was playing with them. 

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This one makes me happy. It’s been a gray, cold, wintery week here, though it’s supposed to improve soon. Linking up with Helena for this week’s SNAP collections.

SNAP: A Day in Chicago

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Tracy and I took the train into Chicago last week to see the current exhibition, “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms,” at The Art Institute. Van Gogh painted three variations of his bedroom in his yellow house in Arles, and this may be the first time they’ve been hung together. It’s certainly the first time a museum has created a exhibition focusing on them, and it was fascinating. I learned a lot about his life from the exhibition as well as enjoying the paintings. I was surprised that taking photographs was allowed. The first photo in the collage is the first known self-portrait Van Gogh painted. The second one is actually a digital projection of the three bedroom paintings which zoom in and out showing the differences between the three paintings. 

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After a delicious lunch at The Gage, we strolled up Michigan Avenue. I loved the yellow sight-seeing boat that was taking off down the river as we walked across the bridge. A friend told us about Eataly, so we stopped to check it out. It’s a wonderland of Italian eateries and food shops. I took quite a few photos, but my favorite was this display of cookbooks. I wished we weren’t so full from lunch, because the gelato looked delicious. Michigan Avenue is lined with exclusive shops and department stores, but we didn’t do any shopping. We walked almost to the end of the avenue, and although we were just short of getting our 10,000 steps for the day, decided to take the bus back to the train station. In less than half an hour, we were back in Evanston. Now that we know how easy it is to get in and out of the city, we’ll be planning more excursions when we come to visit Sarah and Adam.

SNAP: Easter

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Celebrating Easter in Chicago is always fun. Sarah’s church in Winnetka is lovely, and the service is always beautiful. Caleb’s Cherub Choir sang during the service, and the weather was good enough that the Easter egg hunt could be held outside. When we got home from lunch, Caleb got the first of eight clues (drawn by his talented father) for a scavenger hunt to find his Easter basket. He couldn’t wait to begin. I have lots of great photos which will eventually show up in my project life pages, but for now here’s a collection for Helena’s meme: SNAP.

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We’re spending today in the city. For all our trips to Chicago, we usually spend all our time on the North Shore. There’s an exhibit at the Art Institute I’m anxious to see, and I’m hoping to get to a few other sights as well. The weather is somewhat iffy, so we’ll see how it goes.

 

SNAP: The Lions of Longbeach

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Helena’s meme, SNAP, causes me to be on the lookout for opportunities to make photographic connections. Here’s this week’s edition, and you can find others right here.

There was a small shopping plaza a little over a mile from our condo on Longboat Key, and I walked down there several times to mail letters, make dinner reservations, and pick up a few items. I was interested that the home owners along this stretch of the highway seem to favor lions as decorative elements. I had a collection of five to choose from for SNAP, but ended up using only three so that I could include one that stands outside The Ringling Museum in Sarasota. He was just too beautiful to be left out. (#1 in the collage)

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It occurs to me (a few days late) that some of these are items for one of the alternatives for the Winter Scavenger Hunt (an animal statue). I didn’t worry about finding the alternates once I found all 21 items on the list.

We got home Sunday night after a long, 12 hour drive. That wasn’t the original intent, but Saturday night when we realized it was just 12 hours we decided to go for it. The weather was great, and there wasn’t a lot of traffic. No snow anywhere to be seen, so that was a blessing! It’s chilly here, but no complaints. Last year there were still several feet of snow in our yard when we got back. This year the daffodils are peeking up through the soil. Big improvement!

 

SNAP: The Rodeo

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When we come to Florida in March, we always try to find something to do about halfway between where we’re staying and where my mother-in-law spends the winter. This year we decided on Arcadia, FL, where the All-Florida Rodeo was being held. It drew cowboys from all over the country and as far as Manitoba in Canada. Although it couldn’t quite compare to the Calgary Stampede, it was lots of fun and the competition was very good.

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There was cattle roping, bronco riding, entertainment by a very talented clown, and barrel racing (the only event for women). These photos are a testament to our great seats and the power of the iPhone camera. I took my “big” camera to the rodeo only to discover that the battery was nearly dead, and I’d left the spare battery at home. I was delighted to get these photos with my phone.

I’m linking up, as always, with Helena and off to see what other collections have been curated this week.

SNAP: Blue

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We arrived on Longboat Key on Sunday. It’s been sunny and warm every day—exactly why we come in March when the temperatures are still chilly and there’s still snow on the ground at home. There are lots of pretty colors here, but blue seems to be predominant.

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Upper left: the view from our condo window. I love to sit in the chair by this window and read.

Upper right: one of the umbrellas at the pool.

Lower left: a row of chairs at the pool.

Lower right: the steps into the pool.

So far, it’s been an ideal vacation:  a little sun, lots of steps (I’m aiming for an average of 10,000 a day), lots of reading (have finished When Breath Becomes Air—highly recommended, and am enjoying My Brilliant Friend), and good meals and conversation with our friends. We’re here with another couple from our church (our daughters were baptized on the same day), and last night we met two other couples from church who are vacationing here as well for dinner and viewing the sunset. I’m linking up with Helena and off to check out the rest of the SNAP photos for this week.

 

SNAP: The Dutch Collection and 5 in 5 Minutes

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This is the second week in a row that I’m posting flowers as the subject of my SNAP meme sponsored by Helena. I admit a slight obsession with flowers during the month of February. Despite unusually warm temperatures this month, we have had plenty of snow recently. Even with two days of temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s the depth of the snow in our front yard has not significantly diminished. So, as I do each year, I visited the George Eastman House this weekend. The Dutch Collection just opened, and it’s a great place to get a glimpse of spring and some good photos of flowering plants.

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The top left are a German primrose. I don’t recall seeing them in previous years, but I love that one plant has so many colors. I was able to purchase one of these, although mine doesn’t have quite as many colors in it. The top right in Clivia. Before I started going to this show, I’d never heard of it, and it remains one of my favorites every year. And who can resist the beauty of the Heleborus and the tulips? Not I.

Here’s a larger view of the conservatory. Although the largest groupings of flowers are here, the Heleborus line a walkway overlooking the gardens on the way into the house, and there are groupings in a smaller solarium as well. Many of the groupings are color coordinated. One of my good friends is a docent here. She was scheduled to water these plants a week ago on the day of the big snow. Luckily, the museum closed, as did most institutions. I had never given any thought to watering these plants, and I forgot to ask her how long it takes.

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I was there on Saturday afternoon after a retreat at our church which is just down East Ave. I was surprised and pleased to discover that there was an organ recital being played. I thought they were just on Sundays, but perhaps I wandered in at a time when the organist was rehearsing

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While I was at the Eastman House, I got my five photos in five minutes for Sandie’s meme. I just have one day left to get it posted, so here are even more beautiful flowers from the Eastman House taken during the first five minutes I was there.

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All in all, it was a pleasant way to spend a half an hour or so on a winter afternoon.

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I thought I knew exactly what I was going to post for Helena’s SNAP meme this week, but I totally changed my mind when I got this beautiful bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day. 

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There were just the right number of different flowers to create this week’s SNAP collage.

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We spent yesterday house-bound with the biggest snow of the year, and the greatest accumulation in a day in the last seven years. It’s beautiful, but I hope the roads have improved as I do need to go out today.

 

 

SNAP: RED

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In honor of Valentine’s Day this coming weekend, I thought I’d do a collection of red items. The cyclamen is sitting on our coffee table, and the red throw and pillow are on the red chair in my studio. The other red flowers were photos taken earlier.

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Red is my favorite color, and as I sit and write this post, I’m sipping tea from a red cup. I could have photographed my red kitchen chairs, the red carpet on our stairs, or one of my red sweaters, or even the new red heart charm I purchased this week in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. I’m surrounded with red hearts and valentine stamps as I try to get ready for the weekend. Valentine’s Day was my father’s favorite holiday, and I try to honor his memory by making sure my kids and grandchildren get a special card on Valentine’s Day. I’ll be back on Monday with a look at this year’s projects. 

What’s your favorite color? Linking up with Helena and off to see what other collections have been posted this week.

 

SNAP 5: A Walk Through the Park

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Our unseasonably warm weather has continued. Today is supposed to break all the records, but then winter will be returning again. While it’s been warm, we’ve been walking outside nearly every day. Yesterday we walked through Highland Park. Not much in the way of signs of spring, but we always enjoy walking through the Poet’s Garden. It was first planted in 1916 to honor the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. We found a bench inscribed with that date as we walked along the path. The original plants were among those mentioned by Shakespeare in his writings. Many of those plants did not survive, so over the years new plants, trees, and shrubs have been planted. Later in the spring, I’ll take another walk through do another collection.

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The quote by Shakespeare on the plaque reads:

                                                                                                                      And this our life exempt from public haunt
                                                                                               Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
                                                                                               Sermons in stones and good in everything.
                                                                                                                                                                               from As You Like It

It’s already been a lot of fun checking out the collections for SNAP linked to Helena’s blog, and this week is sure to be interesting as well.

  

Snap: Week 4

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Last week I debated about a group of snow photos, and chose instead to focus on bright colors. Although the incredible East Coast blizzard stayed east of us, we did get some decent snow last week, and I went out in the yard for some photos.

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It’s been very windy today and quite a bit warmer so the icicles have disappeared from the roof, and lots of the snow has melted. My friend, Debbie and I walked on the canal yesterday. The snow was hard packed by previous walkers and runners, so it wasn’t hard to walk at all. We’re hoping to get our weekly walk in every week from now on, but that’s probably optimistic. 

Linking up to Helena’s blog where you’ll find other SNAP collections.

SNAP Week 3: Fresh Produce

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We make an effort to eat and purchase locally three seasons a year, but during the winter it would be slim pickings. I’m so grateful that one of the best grocery chains in the United States makes its home in Rochester. The flagship store is Pittsford is actually a tourist destination, and it’s my go-to grocery store along with Trader Joe’s. I had a couple things in mind for SNAP this week, but after several gray, snowy days here, when I walked into Wegman’s this morning I knew right away I wanted to feature the bright colors of the produce.

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At least half, maybe more, of my grocery cart each week is produce (except in the summer when I shop at the local farmers’ markets). It’s not inexpensive, but I figure it’s part of our health plan! Linking to Helena’s meme SNAP, and off to see what other finds folks have made this week.

SNAP: Week 2

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Here’s another photographic peek into our road trip from Rochester to Florida. We always make a stop in St. Petersburg to have lunch at The Red Mesa Catina—one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. I once had a special posole there that I’ve managed to replicate with some success at home, and their chicken quesadillas are the best I’ve ever had. This time I had the Cuban torta which was wonderful, and big enough for two lunches. Our other stop, Whim-So-Doodle, is just around the corner. It’s the best scrapbook/stamp/stationary store I know. Tracy entertains himself with Facebook while I shop.

This weekend, after our lunch and my shopping, we went to see the Chihuly Collection. We’ve seen one of his garden installations in Atlanta, and a fabulous show at the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate State Park, so we were really looking forward to seeing some new and different pieces. It was, however, a bit of a disappointment as the collection is much smaller than we anticipated. Many of the larger sets are ones we’ve seen elsewhere, although there were a few new pieces I liked a lot, including the white one below. If you don’t know Dale Chihuly, it’s definitely worth a look at his site.

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Check out Helena’s blog for more SNAP collections this week. We’re on our way back to the cold, and evidently very snowy, northeast tomorrow. Although I’ll miss the mild Florida weather, I’m very ready to settle in at home after having been on the road since Christmas.